Planocraph co



- M. c. STEARNS.

Patented July 8, 1919.

2 SHtETS-SHEET I.

Tm: COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON, D. c.

Patented July 8, 1919.

2 SHhETS-SHEET 2.

anvemfoz Elam/ M W M. C. STEARNS.

@51 A al'Toz/ue THE COLUMUA PLANDURAP" CG WASHINGTON. D. C.

' 1,309,15 2 a Application fi1ed May is, 1913. serialfNof23 5i382.

fii iill tii ll 9f P le fQ- Q 1 11 4 We maw t 'themr' s n th re a v P j-jelehsed V Fihfifs ,s mil Yi Shem-11g the Parts UNITED sIATnsr T Nr ()EFICE.

MARCUS c. s mnns; 0 BUFFALO, nnw yoitxi ."Be it"k'n'owvn that L MARCUS O. STEA'RNs,a

- tion,, r'e fe tenlce being had to the accompany- ;i i'ng drawings; forming a 7 part hereof;

0 {Thi ihventionha's forits object the pm L jdlietiofnof a Weapon tobe dropped from an (if-aeroplane in the'midst of a'group of the eneifiyto kill and Wound Without the use bf an explosive; The projectiles,

l} whether slugs; darts or bullets, are discharged 'when' the Weapon reaches the I jgi'oilnd by the'centrifugal act on developed through very "high .velocity of rotation P about a vertical axis acquired the fall of ,-.2. I" i eap in rewht h r I gverit'on' yvill'be' norentully explamed'hereer A reference to the accompanying in yvhich it is'ill ustrated sevdifi'ere it e b d m n an n W i vrel s view n elevation,- partly, in

tig fisavhich t yv occu y w we W ap n iS 1 m a a s ip or i p an iizfil' re at n sit oh 'whidh the a m whe ,h ..W9 ,PI tr k s g ound- P Fig- 31 a: View o 6 3 1 f ri a I se ion. b t e .p n nd cated y h in 3 3 Fi 1,; bok in he d e t o i sim l wa slia fa showing a slightly .modifie'dj embodih on ali ectid .01 th r an i d a y f 6fthvva oi frpma greathei'ght and the weapon is therefore provided vvith suitable E2 Yates b whiehih i t e Rf eapp assured as it' fa syand with PIQJQCLIIQ WEAPON.

shamans, 1919.

containers' which are permitted to release their conte'iitsso that such contents shall be dlscharged by centrifugal action 'at the proper "t me. 'In one embodiment of the invention provision is iifade for the release of "the projectile container s 'an'd thedischarge of their-contents when-the Weapon strikes the ground, and in other embodiments provisions are made for the r'elease of the proj'e'ctilecontainers and ithe-"discharge of their {contents a predetermined time or when predetermlned conditions fliave been established. I

In the embodiment of the; invention "illus- 'tiated'in Figs. 1,2 and 3.; the 'Weaponlcom- *prises a central stem or spindle a which 1s jp-referably tubular to"-reoeive the axially inovable releasing device or stem 5, a' hub; secured to the upper end of h spi l a and" a" i n t vanes d andfsegmentalcontainers e for the 'projectiles eiiiployed, 'Which may he bullets, or

'sl l'gs, or darts, or 'projectiles of any pre- "ferred character. 'The' releasing device or [stem 6 has a Wirecutting'head' b and a foot Theh ib 0 is preferably hol-lowand arfrangedito conta'in an exploding charger provided witha detonator 0 so thatthe Qvve'apon shall v.be d estroyed when it has v fulfilled itspurpose.[. Each container 6 is pivQ Iotally hung at its upperendjas at e, upon the spindle a and may be constructed of any suitable imaterial such as thin sheet metal. is preferably larger at the lower end than 'at'the upper end and is" provided at its lower end with a hingeddoqr' e? which is' "lightlyengag'ed by alip 0 so that When the {container is released and flies into a horizonltal'po'sitioii under the influence of the centrifugal action, the door e? is released at the .same time to permit thedischarge of the mass' projectiles within the container. The conta ners aresho'wn as held n nom nal POSltlOIl cross Wires f which are severed 'the wir'e cutter b when the weapon S rikes t g u dh ak s Pl e,

the weapon being then in a state of rotation at agver high velocity about its own verticalf axis, th roughi the action of the air "through wl1ich it falls upon the vanes 03, 'the projectile containers e 'fly .oiit immediately to horizontal positions, thefdoor's open 'a t l'the same time, and'the projectiles are -discharged With great force, sufficient to QUI QQt QSQlQ the Qm-Y Wh m y b standing a put "th p t which" the weapon falls. As the body of the weapon continues its descent, after the foot .ofthe.

releasing device has struck the ground, the

head 5 of the releasing device makes con-- tact with the detonator and brings about the explosion of the charge 0' within the hub c andthe destruction of the weapon. i

In the embodiment of theinvention shown in Fig. 4 the construction is substantially the same as that already described exceptth'ateach container 6 is hinged to the spindle a at the lower end of the container, as at; e", andjthe .door' a is hinged to the bottom offthe-container, as at a. The retaining wires f in {pins f notched, .as atf? within-the standard a for engagement with vertical 5 ins this instance arearranged to coeperate with the small upper ends ofthe containers. In

this arrangement of the contai1 1ers, the weight of eachcontainer and .its charge aS- sists in its movement; to a horizontaliposition whenwreleasedgI In" other respects,.-the operation of the weapon as shown. in-,Fig. 4 is the same as that already described with respect to Figs. 15, 2 and3. f

In the. embodiment of the invention ililus trated in Figs. 5 and ,6 a timing device i is. applied to the ivveaponito release the con ,tainers e at thepredeterminedtime. The

containers. are hingedly mounted upon. the

tubular standard orspindle farther. lower ends and are held in normal positionjby g acted upon. byvliftingsprings gfl he .pins 9 are guidedrin a plate .02 of thehub .0 whichsupports the vanesrd andfare held down normally-by aplateh provided,.with holes h which are brought into registration :withthe pins- 9 at theproper time by atiming device, indicated. generally at 7 timing device maybe. of any isuitablelichar acter. and. need -not{ be, shown or described in detail- A: timingldevice ada tableqfor "the purposeis-shown in U. S.,; atentfof L Schneider, No; 969,497,. September 6, 19.10.

The hub cilisjheld" to; the standard, a" by ashearable pin a andflthefupper end of the standard a is providcdQwith-firing pins at? in alinement with detonators? which communicate through suitable flash passages with the explosive charge 04 within the hub. In theoperation ,of-this tormfof 3 the, weapon, the projectile containers are re-- leased and discharge the projectilesfat the predetermined time, before theweapon has reached :the ground. In its continued'gfall the lower end of the standard a .strikesthe ground, the pin 0 is i sheared,1 the hub devformed-andthe ignition of the explosive A charge is. efl'ected through contact fof -thefiringLpins a with .the detonators; a} so thatthe weapon is destroyed.

i In the embodiment of the. 1n.Fig.-, '7. theflower end of the. standard 00 receives a charge ,of compresjscdlairf in I claim as my. inventions valve d with a chamber a in-which is mounted a piston.a?,.which is armed with a wire cutter" a Thevalve is pressed from its seat at theproper time by apink'whichflisht'ed upon by a cam h on'a d1skh construction. a p upon the pink to gopen the valve a, the piston of is driven upward soas to cause the, cutter a to sever thetwires f and 'release I {the containers e,w1 1i h are mounted .upon ithe standardsubstantially; as shownudn Fig.;4c. The projectiles are then' discharged 7 and inIthetcontinued falling' of the weapon a i l p o d aa1rady deS bQd with reference to Fig. 45, through contaet of thev firing pins 0? with Ithejldetonators Still another.lmeans"forfefiect ng th .re-f I lease 1 t elit ne iata pred e aw ti o h pred termine .cq d iim a efulfilled is shown in Flg i 8. flhespindle ;or.;

standard carris'at tsgjupper end-"the 11ml o ya Wir a befor aOnJtep o e 1 b. t s zmqeet e er s gee ,trifugal governor mii The lower me ber 7 m/ 0f thegovernorisiinountedgsdfastorotate.,v I I s re 1 9 il th u, lowl awit g predetermined speed: sf rotation s attai ed 119:

I the rod m7; will'have been force own {far e h o seven 'retain i w tee See to release the containers, In order to retard .somewhat thegactionfofthe governon therl di'iven bya timing device h of any suitable j When the timing deviceaots 1 fchaberedhubrc withiwings cl and'has the i ccntainer's cghingedthereon and held in nor 7 upper member 412 liscquippedwiththe ver r al e e rmfi iadzth e. ri s ma b -Fi r for less ncllnedgfrom the vert cal so; as to,

. regulate the retarding. action 1 to. suit, ,dit. 1

:ferent conditions of .:use. nieans'jotthe adjustment of he nut,mgon the ime; of. :actionglo'f r.ther".od. om fthe Freta-inirig wir'es ,cangbe advanced-oridlayedlj Various other embodiments ofgthegin en 'tion il s s t ms ves? a dl t b Jmd S QO h ha w i p f s I Qiii fi 5 outiin 'the'claimsg-the inventio' za flfid'ft a f' h epa t' i lla wa ,tions shownfand dfif iQribedghereing ard, means to set u rotation of the standard as the weapon fa s, a projectile container hinged on the standard, means to rotate the standard in normal position and means to release the container to permit it to assume a horizontal position and discharge its projectiles under the influence of centrifugal action. v

2; An aerial weapon comprising a standard, means to set up rotation of the standard.

" 'as the Weapon falls, a projectile container .rality of projectile containers hinged on the mounted onthe standard, means to retain the container in normal position, means to release the container to ermit it to assume a horizontal position an discharge its projectiles under the influence of centrifugal action and means to determine the time of action of the releasing means.

3. An aerial weapon comprising a standard, vanes carried by the standard to set up rotation thereof as the weapon falls, a plustandard, means to retain said containers normally in substantial parallelism with the copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Washington, D. 0."

'5. An aerial weapon comprisin a standard, vanes carried by the standar to set up rotation thereof as the weapon falls, a plurality of projectile containers hinged on the standard, retaining wires to hold the con tainers normally in parallelism with the standarchmeans to sever theretaining wires and devices to determine the time of opera.- tion of such last named means.

This 'spcification signed the 15th day of May, A.

. MARCUS C. STEARNS.

"Commissioner of Patents, I 

